�HOW DO I CONSTRUCT MY IDENTITY AS AN ARTIST?� THE USE OF STORYTELLING IN ARTIST�S ENDEAVOURS DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the arts played an important role for people while coping during lockdown and other severe social restrictions. This presentation introduces a work in progress, where the researcher conducts a self-observation of herself as an artist by constructing a brand personality through storytelling on social media. Data consisted of weekly YouTube videos during a 20-week period, followed with diary entries and self-reflections and reactions of followers (YouTube, Instagram and Facebook). Each episode had a specific theme where I intertwined stories from my own childhood, background and surroundings, values, and world views with timelapse videos of the creative process of working on a painting (from the beginning to the end). Furthermore, during the period, the total of three art exhibitions were promoted with good results. Primary findings indicate that the videos and the narrative evolved from the traditional documentary style to the sharper, almost TikTok like formats, where the emphasis on the timelapse of the creative process seemed to be the element that the followers preferred (as well as the researcher). The narrative part of the study helped the artist to gain footing in identifying her inner core as an artist; to go straight to the roots and work through her childhood trauma and reconciliation. As previously indicated, this is a work in progress and during this presentation, the audience will get an insight into the narrative and creative process of the artist.